2 hour tote

When, less than 2 hours after a fast-paced game of Boggle with my husband, I walked back into the family room with this tote, my husband was in awe...but really it's very simple, and as I've already made several of these, they just get quicker and quicker. Try for yourself though, the tutorial is great and is right here.

The only change I've made to it, is that I used cloth napkins for the outside fabric, so instead of just jumping in and sewing things together, I had to first cut and sew my napkins together. Before I did that though, I stuck the handles in so that they would be tightly sewn to the center of the bottom of the tote and then I was ready to continue on. An hour and 25 minutes later, all I have to complete is sewing the lining seam where I turned the bag right side out. And, viola, a beautiful birthday gift for a friend (shhhhhh, don't tell).

End of Year Projects

This year I decided to create wall-hangings for each of the kids' classrooms. L, goes to preschool and R, just finished 1st grade. Last year, I created two quilts for his teacher, a large crib sized quilt for her new baby (born on the final day of school), and a wall-hanging for her classroom. Both of those quilts had the students' handprints in a simple 6" square pattern. Here, you can see them:
Baby Quilt Teacher's Wall-hanging.

Anyway, this year, I tried my hand at applique. I made two of these wall-hangings, one for each classroom. Sure, I'll have to outdo myself if any of my children repeat older siblings' teachers-which in a school that only has 2 or 3 teachers per grade is fairly likely, but, I liked doing it...plus, who knows what craft I'll be obsessed with in a few years....
The pattern for this is "All the Children of This World" by Barbara Skjonberg. It's listed in the free patterns section.

My First Twin

-sized quilt that is...

My daughter is turning four this summer. Currently she is in a toddler bed, but this year, we decided it's time for a big-girl bed. L is tall, so nearly hangs off. She's been using my childhood quilt from a relative as her blanket, but I'd like it back. It needs some TLC and it's just special to me. It's one of the few things I still have from my childhood, so, it was time to put my quilting skills to good use.

L is very girlie, so after searching for princess and fairy patterns, I settled on using girlie fabric on a much simpler quilt composed of rectangles and squares. It was the right choice, I think. I'm pretty sure she'll love it.

So far, I've finished piecing it, and it has been quilted...stitch in the ditch and some Xs across the 6" squares. I just need to bind it and label it, oh, and get her an actual twin sized bed.


This is the book I got the pattern in.

This is the pattern.














Pieced and draped nicely over the queen-sized bed....It's big.

Quilted.












The backing.